Fratton newly weds to honeymoon at Dracula’s Castle after an unforgettable Knight

Stephanie and Adam Bygrave-White, from Fratton, were married at the Square Tower, in Old Portsmouth on August 22, 2022, a palindrome which ‘appeased’ Steph’s inner OCD.

‘It wasn’t a particular theme, it was just particularly us,’ says Steph.

‘We wanted to get married in a castle, but we don’t have castle money,’ Adam adds.

‘So the Tower was the next best thing, and it was lovely, it worked out really well,’ he says.

The weather may not have been what they expected on their August wedding, but the positive pair wouldn’t change a detail of their special day.

Steph says: ‘It was the one day it rained in August, but apparently that’s good luck, a wet knot is harder to untie than a dry one.

‘It’s an old old wives tale,’ adds Adam ‘But it was grey and mysterious over the sea, it was cool,’ he says.

‘It was great, everything went off without a hitch. You hear these horror stories of people kicking off or something going terribly wrong, but there was nothing like that,’ says Adam.

‘Well the wedding car did break down before it got to us,’ adds Steph. ‘It was touch and go because it was a big pink Cadillac which needed a certain type of tyres,’ she says.

Despite this minor interruption, Steph’s dream car made it to the couple and her fantasy became reality.

‘I’m a pink princess, for my prom, I’d always wanted a big pink Cadillac,’ she says.

‘It’s the idea of the Thunderbirds and Lady Penelope and her pink Rolls-Royce, but we couldn’t find anywhere that would do it at the time, so I wanted it for the wedding!’

In another surprise twist on the day, this picture continued to fall into place when Steph’s parents bought the happy couple Lord and Lady titles as a wedding present and they became Lord and Lady Bygrave-White.

And this wasn’t the only unconventional characteristic on the wedding day for the pair who are keen players of the fantasy role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons.

Adam says: ‘We’re nerdy as hell! We found a place in Hereford where you can make your own sword.

‘You forge it together out of steel and get your wedding day engraved and we thought what a great memento and quite unique,’ he says.

Steph added: ‘It’s proper traditional, and it tied in quite nicely with my mum and dad’s wedding present.’

The pair spared no pomp or circumstance as Adam used their ceremonial sword to knight his own groomsman, and even to cut the cake.

Steph, a teacher at Langstone Junior Academy and Adam, who works for a charity aiding people with special educational needs, first met seven years ago as Steph carried out her teacher training at a school in Southampton.

‘I met her on the playground,’ says Adam.

‘It ended up progressing and progressing and next thing you know we’re saving up to buy a house together,’ he adds.

Steph adds: ‘And now we’re married!’

The pair were engaged in 2020 on the beach at Lee-on-the-Solent and spent two years planning their big day.

Adam says: ‘When we were halfway through the second lockdown, we thought “Shall get it done quietly at a registrar office and have a party when we can?”

‘But we thought “you only get married once, let’s do it right!”

While the pair managed a ‘mini moon’ to the Isle of Sheppey with their chocolate Labrador Bosley, they hope to get away next year - but have a few details to iron out first.

Adam says: ‘Steph wants to go to a nice sunny beach somewhere and I want to go to Dracula's Castle in Transylvania, Romania!’